Abstract
Lockdown measures have been widely used to control and prevent virus transmission in pandemic regions. However, the psychological effects of lockdown measures have been neglected, and the related theoretical research lags behind the practice. The present study aimed to better understand the mechanism of social anxiety in pandemic regions where the lockdown measures were imposed, based on the conceptual framework of the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR). For that, this research investigated how lockdown measures and psychological distance influenced social anxiety in the pandemic region. The Chinese national data was analyzed for the outcome. The results showed that (1) psychological distance mediated the relationship between pandemic COVID-19 severity and social anxiety, (2) lockdown measures buffered the detrimental effect of the COVID-19 pandemic severity on social anxiety, (3) lockdown measures moderated the mediation effect of psychological distancing on social anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In conclusion, under the SOR framework, the lockdown measures had a buffer effect on social anxiety in pandemic regions, with the mediating role of psychological distancing.
Highlights
The new corona virus, or COVID-19, has become a pandemic with accelerating incidence
Existing studies have demonstrated the increase in social anxiety in pandemic areas [5,6,7], which might lead to riots, violence [8,9,10]
The reason might be that individuals perceive a larger number of new cases in nearby provinces as a higher possibility of being infected by we propose that: Hypothesis 2: Psychological distance serves as a mediator to explain the relationship between pandemic severity and social anxiety in pandemic regions
Summary
The new corona virus, or COVID-19, has become a pandemic with accelerating incidence Since this disease has been confirmed to have interhuman transmission, the Chinese government actively adopted lockdown measures to cut off the channels of infection for virus prevention and control. Existing studies have demonstrated the increase in social anxiety in pandemic areas [5,6,7], which might lead to riots, violence [8,9,10]. Do these crisis governance measures really have an impact on social emotions in pandemic regions? Do these crisis governance measures really have an impact on social emotions in pandemic regions? What are the mechanisms underlying this process?
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